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Effects of road ditches on the vegetation composition in a saline environment

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Abstract

The construction of transportation corridors (such as roads) frequently disturbs and alters the natural disturbance regimes of ecosystems in many areas worldwide. In this study, by comparing the species richness, diversity, composition and soil among four ecotypes (non-road disturbance areas, road systems without ditches, road systems with large and small ditches), we tested the hypothesis that the presence of road ditches could facilitate the preservation of species and increase species richness in the Yellow River Delta, China. Both positive and negative effects of road ditches on the plant community were detected. The species richness in road systems (> 14) was significantly greater than that in the non-road disturbance areas (6). In the road systems without ditches, the refuges (relatively low soil salinity: 1.12 ± 0.15 mg/g) for non-halophytes were limited to road verges (0 m from a road verge). In the road systems that included a ditch, however, the refuge area expanded from road verges to 30 m from the verges. The width and structure affected ditch function. Both large ditches and small ditches effectively reduced the salinity of the soil, but the influence mechanisms differed, resulting in differences in the distribution of species diversity. The proportion of non-halophytes was significantly greater (37%) in the road systems with large ditches than in the road systems with small ditches (45.0%). In addition, the proper structure of large ditches with slopes increased the species diversity (the species richness was 26); in contrast, some structures of small ditches reduced the species diversity (the species richness was 14). The results of our study suggest that large ditches (width > 5 m) can be constructed 10 m from road verges to increase local species richness. Moreover, it is necessary to create buffer zones alongside roads (30 m from road verge), which can prevent the movement of invasive species into internal natural areas.

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Acknowledgements

National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant nos. 2006CB403305 and 41505122), the Environmental Protection Science and Technology Projects of Sichuan province (Grant no. 2013HBZX01), the Science and Technology support project (Grant no. 2015GZ0238), introduced talents start project of Chengdu University of Information Technology (No. KYTZ201429), National key research and development plan (2018YFC0214003) and the Soft Science Research Project (2017ZR0043).The experiments comply with the current laws of the country in which they were performed.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Plateau Atmosphere and Environment Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Atmospheric Science Institute, Chengdu University of Information Technology, Chengdu, 610225, People’s Republic of China

    Sheng-Lan Zeng

  2. Coastal Ecosystems Research Station of the Yangtze River Estuary, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Science and Ecological Engineering, Institute of Biodiversity Science, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200433, People’s Republic of China

    Bin Zhao

  3. East China Sea Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Key Laboratory of East China Sea and Oceanic Fishery Resources Exploitation and Utilization, Ministry of Agriculture, P.R. China, Shanghai, 20009, People’s Republic of China

    Ting-Ting Zhang

  4. The Center for Global Change and Earth Observations, Michigan State University, 202 Manly Miles Building, 1405 S. Harrison Road, East Lansing, MI, 48823, USA

    Zu-Tao Ouyang

Authors
  1. Sheng-Lan Zeng
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  2. Bin Zhao
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  3. Ting-Ting Zhang
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  4. Zu-Tao Ouyang
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sheng-Lan Zeng.

Appendices

Appendix 1: List of roads surveyed in the Yellow River Delta, China

No.

Grade

Pavement material

Width (m)

Construction (year)

Length (m)

1

4

Asphalt

8

1988

3378

2

4

Asphalt

8

1988

3148

3

4

Asphalt

6

1990

5187

4

4

Asphalt

8

1992

10104

5

3

Asphalt

9

1988

3021

Appendix 2: The brief procedures and computational formulas of soil characteristic analysis

Environmental variables

(soil properties)

Measurement procedure

Formula

Salinity (mg/g)

1. Put 10 g air-dried soil into shake flask (100 mL), and add 50 mL distilled water;

2. Plug the shake flasks, and then agitate them on a shaker (150/min–180/min) for 5 min;

3. Separate the leach liquor by centrifugation, and then measure the electric conductivity of the leach liquor by an electric conductivity meter (SevenEasy S30, Mettler Toledo, Switzerland);

Salinity(mg/g) = instrument reading(ppt)*5

Moisture content

1. Weight the wet weight of soil sample (m1);

2. Dry the samples to constant weight at 105 °C;

3. Weight the dry weight of the soil sample (m2);

Moisture content = (m1 – m2)/m2

Bulk density (g/cm3)

1. Weight the wet weight of soil sample (m) in the cutting ring (V = 100 cm3);

2. Measure the soil moisture content of soil sample using the oven drying method.

Bulk density (g/cm3) = m/V/[1 + moisture content(%)]

pH

Measured in situ using an electrode pH meter (HI8424, Hanna, Italy)

 

[NO3−-N](mgN/kg)

1. Leach NO3− in soil sample (5 g) by 2 mol/L KCL (50 mL);

2. The leach liquor was measured by Smart Chem 200 (Alliance, France).

Standard curve: y = ax + b R2 = 0.9999

‘y’ respect for concentration; ‘x’ respect for instrument reading

[NO3−–N](mg/kg) = y*0.05/m2

[NH4+-N] (mgN/kg)

1. Leach NH4+ in soil sample (5 g) by 2 mol/L KCL (50 mL);

2. The leach liquor was measured by Smart Chem 200 (Alliance, France).

Standard curve: y = ax + b R2 = 0.9999

‘y’ respect for concentration; ‘x’ respect for instrument reading

[NH4+–N] (mgN/kg) = y*0.05/m2

Appendix 3: List of plant species surveyed in the YRD, China between 2008 and 2009

 

Species

Life history

Life form

Reproductive mode

Origin

Agaricaceae

     

 Agaricus

Agaricus campestris

    

Ferns

     

 Equisetaceae

     
 

Equisetum pratense Ehrh.

Perennial

Herb

Sexual

 
 

Hippochaete ramosissima (Desf.) Boerner

Perennial

Herb

Vegetative

 

Dicots

     

 Apocynaceae

     
 

Apocynum venetum L.

Annual

Shrub

Sexual

 

 Asclepiadaceae

     
 

Metaplexis japonica (Thunb.) Makino

Perennial

Liane

Sexual/vegetative

 

 Asteraceae

     
 

Artemisia capillaris Thunb.

Perennial

Herb

Sexual

 
 

A. fauriei Nakai

Perennial

Herb

Sexual

 
 

A. rubripes Nakai

Perennial

Herb

Sexual

 
 

Aster subulatus Michx.

Annual

Herb

Sexual

N. America

 

Bidens frondosa L.

Annual

Herb

Sexual

N. America

 

C. canadensis (L.) Cronq.

Annual

Herb

Sexual

N. America

 

Hemistepta lyrata (Bge.) Bge.

Biennial

Herb

Sexual

 
 

Inula japonica Thunb.

Perennial

Herb

Sexual

 
 

Ixeris denticulata (Houtt.) Stebb.

Annual

Herb

Sexual

 
 

Mulgedium tataricum (L.) DC.

Perennial

Herb

Sexual

 
 

Sonchus oleraceus L.

Annual

Herb

Sexual

Europe and Asia

 

Tripolium vulgare Nees

Annual

Herb

Sexual

 
 

Xanthium sibiricum Patrin. ex Widder

Annual

Herb

Sexual

 

 Chenopodiaceae

     
 

Atriplex centralasiatica Iljin

Annual

Herb

Sexual

 
 

Chenopodium album L.

Annual

Herb

Sexual

 
 

C. glaucum L.

Annual

Herb

Sexual

 
 

C. serotinum L.

Annual

Herb

Sexual

Siberia, Japan, Europe

 

Kochia scoparia (L.) Schrad

Annual

Herb

Sexual

Europe and Asia

 

Salsola collina Pall.

Annual

Herb

Sexual

 
 

Suaeda glauca (Bge.) Bge.

Annual

Herb

Sexual

 
 

S. salsa (L.) Pall.

Annual

Herb

Sexual

 

 Convolvulaceae

     
 

Convolvulus arvensis L.

Perennial

Herb

Sexual/

vegetative

Europe

 Euphorbiaceae

     
 

Euphorbia humifusa Willd.

Annual

Herb

Sexual

 

 Fabaceae

     
 

Astragalus scaberrimus Bge.

Perennial

Herb

Sexual

 
 

Glycine soja Sieb. et Zucc.

Annual

Herb

Sexual

 
 

Kummerowia striata (Thunb.) Schindl.

Annual

Herb

Sexual

 
 

Medicago sativa L.

Perennial

Herb

Sexual

Europe, Western Asia

 

Melilotus dentatus (Waldst. et Kit.) Pers.

Annual

Herb

Sexual

 
 

Melilotus officinalis (L.) Desr.

Annual

Herb

Sexual

Europe

 Lamiaceae

     
 

Leonurus japonicus Houtt.

Annual

Herb

Sexual

 

 Moraceae

     
 

Humulus scandens (Lour.) Merr.

Annual

Herb

Sexual

 

 Plantaginaceae

     
 

P. depressa Willd.

Annual

Herb

Sexual

N. America

 Plumbaginaceae

     
 

Limonium sinense (Girard) Kuntze

Perennial

Herb

Sexual

Europe

 Polygonaceae

     
 

Polygonum aviculare L.

Annual

Herb

  

 Portulacaceae

     
 

Portulaca oleracea L.

Annual

Herb

Sexual/vegetative

Brazil

 Rosaceae

     
 

Potentilla supina L.

Annual

Herb

Sexual

 

 Rubiaceae

     
 

Rubia cordifolia L.

Perennial

Liane

Sexual

 

 Rutaceae

     
 

Dictamnus dasycarpus Turcz.

Perennial

Herb

Sexual

 

 Tamaricaceae

     
 

Tamarix chinensis Lour.

Annual

Shrub

Sexual/vegetative

West Mediterranean

Monocots

     

 Cyperaceae

     
 

Carex tristachya Thunb.

Perennial

Herb

Sexual

 

 Poaceae

     
 

Aeluropus sinensis (Debeaux) Tzvel.

Perennial

Herb

Vegetative

 
 

Bromus japonicus Thunb.

Annual

Herb

Sexual

 
 

Calamagrostis epigeios (L.) Roth

Perennial

Herb

Sexual

 
 

Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers.

Perennial

Herb

Vegetative

 
 

Eleusine indica (L.) Gaertn.

Annual

Herb

Sexual

India

 

Echinochloa crusgalli

Annual

Herb

Sexual

 
 

Eragrostis minor Host

Annual

Herb

Sexual

 
 

Imperata cylindrica (L.) Beauv.

Perennial

Herb

Vegetative

 
 

Phragmites australis (Cav.) Trin. ex Steud.

Perennial

Herb

Sexual/vegetative

 
 

Roegneria kamoji Ohwi

Perennial

Herb

Sexual/vegetative

 
 

Setaria glauca (L.) Beauv.

Annual

Herb

Sexual

 
 

S. viridis (L.) Beauv.

Annual

Herb

Sexual

 
 

Unknown species 1#

    
 

Unknown species 2#

    
 

Unknown species 3#

    
 

Unknown species 4#

    
 

Unknown species 5#

    
 

Unknown species 6#

    
 

Unknown species 7#

    
 

Unknown species 8#

    
 

Unknown species 9#

    
 

Unknown species 10#

    
 

Unknown species 11#

    

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Zeng, SL., Zhao, B., Zhang, TT. et al. Effects of road ditches on the vegetation composition in a saline environment. Landscape Ecol Eng 16, 71–85 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11355-019-00405-7

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